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Topics - MovieMan

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751
I have bought them for $1 (with the auctioneer paying the $1) and for as much as $2,900.

How about you?

752
I used to go 50 miles or more, but when I saw the same stuff there that I saw in my immediate area I cut that out almost entirely.  I know result will vary based on how rural or metro an area you live in, but give this poll a shot anyway.

753
Here's a cut and paste for a California bay area auction.

Not a huge amount of stuff here. May sell it all as
ONE LOT, BUYER TAKES WHAT HE WANTS, LEAVES THE REST,
TWO HOURS TO REMOVE. MIGHT SELL IT IN SEVERAL LOTS,
WE'LL HAVE TO SEE HOW PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT IT ON AUCTION DAY...


754
One chain of 2 locations does it this way.

The property manager has a list of what the defaulted lkr "owner" owes in back rent and fees.
Apparently this is used to determine what a satisfactory starting bid would be.

The auctioneer says something like "I'll start this unit at $35".  This totally amazed the old-timers and the new people didn't know what to think, but no one was saying boo.

Finally I said "5 dollars". She shot me a look that would sink a battleship and she wouldn't accept the bid.
Someone then said "10 dollars" and she took the bid. Ended up selling the unit for $35.

Five lockers. She started 2 at $100 each and worked her way down $5 at a time. Each of them sold for $70.

On one of them there was just the one bid of $70 and I thought the guy could have had it for less...maybe in the $50 range.

Anyway, I don't car for that approach myself.

See post below for a similar auction and feel free to jump in.

755
Stories about Storage Auctions / Lookey Loos Part 2...February, 2011
« on: February 04, 2011, 04:59:27 PM »
Thought I would start this as maybe a monthly report to see if we can really see a difference as time goes by in the number of lookers. There are certainly variables of course, but I can speak for my section of the country anyway.

I went to two auctions today both by the same chain and both in the same town. Neither of these had a professional auctioneer, but that is ANOTHER story.

The first auction had about 15 people and 5 units. Three units were losers (IMHO) and went for $25 and thereabouts.  The other two went for $70 each.

***

The 2nd auction had about 30 people and 5 units.  A couple were OK and went in the $25 to $50 range. One went for about  $375 but for good reason. The 15 year veteran who got it wanted the contents for his daughter's new living arrangement. She moved from an apartment to a house.

So lighter crowd but not biggie auction by well-known auctioneers...that was the main factor I think. :D

756
General Storage Auction Talk / How much money do your bring to an auction ?
« on: February 04, 2011, 10:11:06 AM »
Don't know how many people will answer this...or answer honestly...but we'll see.

This won't be too meaningful to the new buyers, but perhaps an eye-opener for them anyway. Some new folks think they're going to get a gold-bar locker for $100 instead of $1,000 and up.

Anyway, in my area it is not uncommon to see regular, big bid buyers bringing $5k with them. This wouldn't be used on your everyday lkr of course, but perhaps on a high-end biz that went out of biz. Phone systems, computers, networking systems, plotter printers, etc command a high price here more often than not.

I once lost a collectible store (comic books, action figues in boxes) lkr because I had only brought $3,000. It went for the $3,100 the next bidder offered.


757
I have gotten vintage WWII items (really like those) and Vietnam era as well. I haven't gotten any clothing or other items from current conflicts though.

My best WWII item was a GI canteen with palm tree picture scratched in by a grunt. This trench art is great.
I have also gotten trench art made from empty shell casings...made into ash trays, etc.

My favorite piece of ammo "art" was a shell that still appeared to contain a slug, but when you pull the slug from the casing there was a knife blade attached to the base of the slug...not a very effective knife, but interesting.

758
In my area of California several of the auctioneers get a $25 to $100 cleaning deposit from buyers.
It varies from auctioneer to auctioneer and from site to site though.

Most auctioneers get $100 or so from buyers they don't know (you know who) and maybe zero to $25 from people who have been around a year or more.

One auctioneer collects no deposits at ANY of the properties where he does auctions, but woe be to you if you don't clean out a locker.

And then there's the interpretation of what a cleaning deposit really is. I'll let you chime in on that.


759
General Storage Auction Talk / What is the easiest item to sell ?
« on: February 03, 2011, 10:06:48 PM »
Well, that's hard to say. At one time it was DVDs, but that is slowing down for me.

I got 1,000 DVDs at $2.50 apiece some years ago from a Mom and Pop store that went out of biz.

At that time I could get $5 or $6 for newer titles. Now if I get a newer title in a locker a $3 bill is about tops.

Still, I'd say they go pretty fast.

One fellow bought about 2000 DVDs from Hollywood Video when they went out of biz. He brought them ALL out at one time and was selling them for $1.00 each. In my opinion not good marketing...people are going to look through 2000 titles. And why sell them that cheap? Undercuts the whole biz.


So, what is the easiest item to sell? If you tell us, maybe we can profit from the idea.

760
General Storage Auction Talk / What is the hardest item to sell ?
« on: February 03, 2011, 10:02:42 PM »
New men's tennis shoes (Nike, Converse, etc) at a decent price. Not giving them away when they sell for $60 or more. I have a hard time selling them at $15 (at flea). They go better on eBay, or sometimes not at all on eBay.

761
Paper towels, toilet paper, WD40, printer paper, air-in-a-can (air duster), new jackets, new shoes, new vitamins, new window cleaner, newer laptop, magazines of interest (No, not that kind!), new tripod, new digital camera (new to me).

I think you get the idea...chime in.  ;D

762
West / Got one today....and comments on some California "New Buyers"
« on: February 02, 2011, 07:54:34 PM »
Finally got one. Been about 3 weeks since the last one.

Today part of the difference was definitely the LACK of a crowd. There were only 20 or so total and 8 of those were the old-timers and people I bid against on a regular basis.

I got a 10 by 30 about half full with more bigger pieces than I like, but I sell them cheap to other buyers and let them handle and sell them. Ten big totes in back corner I haven't gotten to yet, but may not be that great given the appearance of the rest of the locker.

It only cost $80 and a week ago with 100 people in attendance I know it would have gone for $300 or more.
The sun was out....guess people were elsewhere.

*************
Two new guys  bought a 62 Impala body; it was off the frame which was leaned against the side of the locker. It had no lights, no motor or any thing exept the body. They paid $200 and said they could get 3 grand the way it was. I don't know...maybe you do.

Continuing this in next post as screen is jumping here.

763
General Storage Auction Talk / Free electronics drop-off
« on: February 01, 2011, 05:18:23 PM »
In California there are often city or county run facilities where you can drop-off electronics like tvs, monitors and computer towers.

Also, the Goodwill stores here will accept those items.  This is great if you get an old computer tower that still takes floppy disks.

Also, my city has a place that buys up to 5 tvs or monitors a year and they pay by weight. I always take in the old projection tvs...a lot of particle board weight, but they pay for it !

Unfortunately, I think all three of these methods end up with stuff being taken in huge bulk to China where some child is put to work taking them apart for the gold, etc. Since there's lead and such in the old monitors, this is a bad thing too. Might come back to bite us in the butt.


*****

Sometimes school systems will take old computer stuff for computer repair classes if nothing else.


764
What's it Worth?? / Stamps in a 3" thick book
« on: January 31, 2011, 07:16:00 PM »
Just starting to do research on this one so thought I'd take a shot here too.

This book is not full, but it has stamps (used and unused) going back to mid 1800's up to the 1960s.

I looked up two of the un-used ones on eBay and the completed prices showed in the $8 range for each.

Wondering if any of you have had experience with either single stamp sales or complete book sales.

I know a sheet of one stamp can be valuable. That is not the case here.  These are individual stamps fastened over pictures of stamps on a given page.

One of the pages is:  1940 stamps commemorating artists, composers and I forget the third one. 5 stamps of each, all cancelled.

The most intersting is of a bi-plane flying upside down.  :)  JUST KIDDING !

Any thoughts ?

765
As of Jan 31, 2011 there are about 930 members and 950 or so posts.

The admirable thing about this is that 900 or so of those members haven't made a single post.
I say this is a good thing because maybe 880 of those 900 are probably "newbies" who are doing
a good thing by doing a lot of reading (hopefully) and not a lot of posting at this point.

This reflects what they are doing at auctions...watching for the most part. The ones who are buying are
typically paying too much (IMHO) and will get a lesson in buying/selling and lkr contents pretty quickly.
I mentioned in another post the fellow who paid $825 for a lkr that should have gone for about $200 tops. He hasn't been to another auction since. Guess he is stacking his gold bars.

Meanwhile the statistics here speak for themselves. It will be interesting to see the continued new membership numbers here and if the really new "buyers" start to make some headway....certainly SOME of them will.

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